European Factors to Watch-Shares seen opening lower, focus on Fed

Reuters Staff

6 Min Read

(Updates futures prices, adds company news)
LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - European shares were likely to open sharply lower
on Friday after strong gains in the previous session, with investors waiting for
a widely-watched U.S. jobs report that could provide hints about the timing of
an expected interest rate hike.
Economists expect the U.S. economy to have produced 220,000 new non-farm
jobs last month, continuing the robust employment creation of the past five
years. The jobs report is due at 1230 GMT.
"Today's non-farm payrolls are surely to be interpreted as bearish,"
Jonathan Sudaria, dealer at London Capital Group, said in a note. "If it beats
expectation, we're going to sell-off on the fears of a rate hike, and if it's
weak; it'll be put down to another indicator of a faltering global economy."
In Germany, industrial orders fell more than expected in July on lower
foreign demand, the economy ministry said, but added that the weak euro and a
recovery in the euro zone would support foreign trade.
Futures for the Euro STOXX 50, Germany's DAX, France's CAC
40 and Britain's FTSE were down 1.2 to 1.3 percent at 0637 GMT.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 2.4 percent in the
previous session, extending earlier gains as the European Central Bank delivered
a dovish message from its first meeting after weeks of market turmoil.
COMPANY NEWS
GVC HOLDINGS, BWIN.PARTY
Online gambling company GVC Holdings said on Friday that Bwin.party Digital
Entertainment had accepted its 1.06-billion-pound ($1.62 billion) takeover
offer.
BASF
BASF and Gazprom have agreed to revive a deal to swap gas assets that had
collapsed in late 2014 that will see BASF exit gas trading and storage and see
the Rusian energy giant expand into Western Europe, BASF said on Friday.
BAYER
Bayer's Covestro, Europe's fourth-largest chemicals maker, will launch an
intital public offering of new shares in the fourth quarter, Bayer said on
Friday.
ASTRAZENECA PLC
AstraZeneca said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved a new
dose of its blood thinner, Brilinta, for patients with a history of heart attack
beyond the first year.
VONTOBEL
The Swiss bank said it had agreed to buy Italmobiliare-owned Finter Bank
Zurich to boost its wealth management business with Italian clients.
COMMERZBANK
Commerzbank said its Chief Risk Officer Stefan Schmittmann had requested
that his contract be terminated at the end of the year.
DEUTSCHE BOERSE
Deutsche Boerse said it raised 200 million euros for the takeover of 360T in
the placement of treasury shares.
RIB SOFTWARE
The company announced plans to raise its capital by 7.8 percent to raise
funds to extend its iTWO platform and continue growing internationally.
SOFTWARE AG
The software company announced plans to buy back shares worth up to 70
million euros.
SANOFI
Genzyme Corp, a unit of the French drug company, will pay $32.59 million and
admit wrongdoing to resolve criminal charges over the unlawful distribution of
the surgical device Seprafilm, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
NEOPOST
The French mail and shipping group confirmed its 2015 outlook on the back of
higher sales in the second quarter.
BOIRON
The French homeopathy specialist posted a 5.3 percent rise in half-year
sales but said it remained cautious on its outlook for 2015, citing geopolitical
risks.
CARMAT
The French medical company said a third patient implanted with its
articifical heart had returned home.
VOLKSWAGEN
Volkswagen's finance chief Hans Dieter Poetsch is set to become its next
chairman, putting Europe's biggest carmaker on course for calmer waters after
rival factions including ousted patriarch Ferdinand Piech united to back him.
MAJOR MACROECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS (GMT) :
0600 DE Industrial Orders
0645 FR Consumer Confidence
1230 US Non-farm payrolls
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MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0514 GMT:
LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1,951.13 0.12 % 2.27
NIKKEI 17858.29 -1.78 % -324.1
MSCI ASIA EX-JP 389.18 -0.86 % -3.37
EUR/USD 1.1125 0.04 % 0.0004
USD/JPY 119.43 -0.52 % -0.6300
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.140 -- -0.03
10-YR BUND YLD 0.732 -- 0.00
SPOT GOLD $1,123.90 -0.08 % -$0.95
US CRUDE $46.14 -1.3 % -0.61
> Asian shares mixed as U.S. jobs report looms, ECB soothes
> Wall Street rises in volatile session ahead of jobs data
> Nikkei tumbles to fresh 7-month low as yen strengthens further
> Prices edge higher on dovish ECB, U.S. jobs data eyed
> Dovish ECB puts euro on the defensive, dollar awaits payrolls
> Gold retains 2-day decline ahead of U.S. jobs data
> London copper set for 2nd weekly gain
> Oil prices dip, investors wait on cues from U.S. jobs data
(Reporting by Atul Prakash)